Clovis native lights music festival stage

Clovis native Jason Davis, who now lives in Lubbock, comes back often but not usually to work so much.

Davis is in charge of the lighting and sound for the Clovis Music Festival. He and a crew of four spent days preparing for three nights of music at the Curry County Events Center.

Musical calling card: We’ve done the lighting and sound for the Clovis Music Festival for the past five years. I watch the show; my parents come. I enjoy 1950s music. I grew up listening to music from the 1950s and 1960s. It was all my dad would listen to in the car so anytime we went on the road anywhere that’s what we listened to. He’d throw in some Marty Robbins here and there but I knew all the songs from the 1950s before I knew anything else. I love jazz, it’s my favorite kind of music. It is the quintessential building blocks of all music we listen to today. I like that you can hear the music. It takes talent to make music. Computers can emulate music these days but I like to go home at the end of the day and listen to something that took some work.

Hometown boy: I grew up here in Clovis, went to high school here. I love Taco Box. I’ve heard people say they can’t wait to get out of here but that happens a lot in little towns. I’ve lived in Los Angeles, Lubbock, big cities, little cities and there is something about being able to go to dinner, the hardware store, a school event and see people I know. I go out in Lubbock and never see people I know. Some people don’t like that but some people do. I was in the Wildcat band and that’s where I developed my love for music.

Shop talk: I can’t remember ever having a job that I wanted to do but as I got into media and music and electronics, it just all came together. I said I think I’m good at this and I enjoy it. I believe you should do something you enjoy.

Memories: The most memorable event I’ve set up for was in Clovis probably 10 years ago. Vince, Gil and Amy Grant came and did a concert for the Farwell Scholarship Foundation and they had it at Ted Hartley’s house. It was intimate, probably 250 people. It was great spending the day with them. It’s fun to hang out with musicians when they’re not super stars anymore, they’re just people. It was great setting up for Michael Buble, driving Aerosmith around Lubbock and meeting Gene Simmons.